Hi friends,

I’ve been hard at work at my secret laboratory, trying to mix beats and rhythms together to create something magical, and I think I’ve finally come up with something worth sharing.

Everybody knows Feist by now: Recently featured in an iPod commercial with her video for “1, 2, 3, 4,” she had previously captured people’s attention with her debut album, “Let It Die.” On that album, she did a cover of a Bee Gee’s song called “Inside Out.” It was a sparse and danceable interpretation — like a quiet disco in an empty chapel, maybe. Okay, now that you’ve conjured up the track, hold that sweet thought.

You might also remember weeping (in the van, with your friends) over Sufjan Stevens’ “Illinois” album. One track from that collection was called “They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbours!! They Have Come Back From the Dead! Ahhhh!,” which was also a very groovy song.

Anyway, long story short, I INTRODUCED THEM TO EACH OTHER. Turns out, they loved each other from the start. They only required very minimal adjustments to tempo and pitch before they started rocking, and with a few very careful weeks of tweaking and arranging, they finally produced a likeable, danceable offspring. The result is my most precious mash-up ever.

I present to you: Feisty Stevens – The Zombies Are Inside Out!!

Please share this with your friends, and if you happen to be the friend of a friend of a girl who sings in the choir for Sufjan or plays in the band for Feist, feel free to pass this along, especially since Sufjan says his music isn’t suited to remixes.

• Mixes in the Making: Mix 1: Doom Pop!
• How to get free drinks at Starbucks
• Extensions and Plug-ins That Should Be Created But Haven’t Been Yet
• The Toyota Proposal
• Tom & Sarah – I’m Still Wishing

• AdSense Auto-Extender for Sidebar
• Web-Wide Comment Tracker
• WordPress Info-Wiki

AdSense Auto-Extender for Sidebar

Some people treat ads like they were wallpaper, and believe they’re just supposed to cover your entire freakin’ website. I’m part of the school o’ blogging that tries to use ads a little more tastefully, and integrate them into the site design. This requires being sensitive to context. I’d love to have a strip of text ads running down the sidebar, but as you know, doing so would mean that when I have short posts, the strip of ads awkwardly extends the page, and creates a giant blank spot once the content ends.

I’ve found a customized solution thanks to iZachy’s smart skip-ad coding trick. You can read all about it here (site is currently down: click here for Google Cache), but it does involve some awkward code-tweaking and custom-field-creating. I’d like to see an AdSense manager plug-in that lets you specify rules like this:

• If it’s a short post, don’t put ads in the sidebar.
• If it’s a long post, please put ads in the sidebar.
• If it’s really long, just keep replicating the ads all the way down.

Who’s up for it?

…And They Will Know You By Your Trail of Comments

This wouldn’t be a plug-in for WordPress. It would either be a separate web application (like MyBlogLog, but with more flexibility), or a Firefox extension. Do you ever visit sites and leave comments, and then forget to check up on them to see if the conversation has continued? I know I do. I’ll visit a blog, participate in the conversation, but then get distracted by the links and forget what blog I was even visiting.

Just for the sake of being a good person with excellent follow-up skills, it would be lovely to have my “trail of comments” tracked somewhere. Imagine an interface that lets keeps track of your commenting habits. For each entry, it will tell you:

• Name of (and link to) the site and post you commented on
• Your comment
• Comments after yours (with an expandable tree view that lets you show/hide these)
• Sorted in reverse chronology (most recent first).
• You can browse, search, archive and dismiss (delete) your comments.
• You can flag important conversations.

WordPress Info-Wiki

In creating my Upcoming Releases Project, I was looking for a way to allow public, automatic contributions to the list. I couldn’t find one. Something like what I’m going to describe would be extremely useful for public projects, group collaborations, or small-scale Wikipedia-like endeavours hosted on WordPress. Imagine a plug-in that allows for the following:

• Public submissions to a group calendar, list, database or blogroll.
• Submissions must be cleared by a moderator
• Fields are customizable. That is, the moderator can create a form that can require up to 10 custom fields. In my case, for the Upcoming Releases Project, I would include these fields: Your Name / Your Email Address / Artist Name / (Dropdown: Select Album or Tour) / Release or event date: / Website source / Other details
• A tool for customizing the output, much like the options interface for Rob Marsh’s “Similar Posts” plug-in.

In its simplest form, it’s just like your regular old comment form on everybody’s blog. User inputs data, data is posted. The difference is, administrators can easily decide upon the form fields and customize the output.

• Mike Jolley at Blue Anvil, co-creator of the Secure and Accesible PHP Contact Form.
• Mike Cherim of Green Beast, the other co-creator of the Contact Form.
• Steve Smith of Ordered List, maker of the brilliant WP Tiger Administration.
• Rob Marsh, inventor of Similiar Posts.

• Mixes in the Making: Mix 1: Doom Pop!
• The Toyota Proposal

Mixes in the Making: Series Intro

I’m always picking up on musical or lyrical themes that cross over between songs by different artists. I’ll often think of three or four songs that would work especially well together when played in sequence, helping the listeners pick up on ideas in the music they’ve never heard before. But more often than not, after I put the first four songs together, I can’t think of any more songs to include. The mix never gets made, and my ideas perish in the abandoned archive of never-played iTunes playlists.

That’s where this series comes in. If I can’t make the CDs, then I might as well share the ideas, and maybe you, the readers, will have smart ideas to help me out, and we’ll get the mix made in the end. It’s called “Mixes in the Making.” Consider it an open-source attempt at creating community mixes along pre-defined terms. And if there are no other songs to be found, consider them Mix EPs.

Mix 1: Doom Pop!

This mix’s premise involves selecting artists that are not known for their sincerity or artistry, and selecting surprising, out-of-character tracks for a mix CD that has a cohesive theme of grounded, educated, remarkable songs.

Gwen Stefani with Andre 3000: We’ve Got A Lot Way to Go (intro only)

The spoken-word duet that opens this track off Gwen’s “Love, Angel, Music, Baby” album is a forward-looking, robotic indictment to never give up on making history. “We’ve got a long way to go,” intone Gwen and Dre. “It’s beyond Martin Luther. Upgrade computer.”

Hanson: Optimistic (Radiohead cover)

You remember these brothers: their nowhere-but-down careers seemingly peaked in the 90s with timeless gems like “MMMBop” and “Where’s the Love?” They’ve ditched Atlantic Records and signed with an independent record label instead. Somehow, I came across an MP3 of these guys covering Radiohead’s “Optimistic” live in concert, and it’s actually an inspiring piece of work. If you can put up with the legions of screaming girlies in the background, that is. The tribal-warefare drums carry the crunching guitars, and both provide the perfect rhythmic menace to counteract with whoever-it-is that’s singing in a tortured mini-rockstar wail.

POD: Psalm 150

30 seconds of ambient guitar drones and plucks ripple underneath the guttural, spiritual utterances of somebody reading Psalm 150 in Hebrew. It’s shivery good.

Those are the three anchor tracks. And yes, two of them are just interludes, not full tracks. If you can think of any more that fit this theme, I’d love to hear your ideas. Feel free to post your contributions below.

• Tom & Sarah – I’m Still Wishing
• Extensions and Plug-ins That Should Be Created But Haven’t Been Yet
• The Toyota Proposal
• How to get free drinks at Starbucks

• Keep reading to view the letter in its entirety, text-only style.
• Download a PDF of the original letter sent to Toyota.
• See pictures of the engagement.
• Find out what Toyota said in response.

Toyota Canada Inc.
Head Office
1 Toyota Place
Scarborough, ON
M1H 1H9

April 10, 2006

TO THE MARKETING PEOPLE AT TOYOTA CANADA,

My name is Kevan, and two weeks ago, I got engaged. The evening was a well-executed operation that resulted in yesses and tears of joy and other such gushing consequences and, needless to say, she’s got a ring on her finger and I’ve got a new fiancée – her name is Kendra. She is beautiful. Anyway, as is the case with most engagement stories, my lady and I get to re-tell our tale upwards of a hundred times. A day. But there’s one thing we’ve noticed that’s a little different about our story: every time we tell it, it starts and ends with the Toyota Yaris. I know engagement stories are supposed to be all about the couple, but there’s a secondary character in our story, and it’s your car that’s playing the supporting role. Let me explain.

……..

We got engaged on a Friday. A few days earlier, I’d told her our reservations were for 5:15: wear business attire, and don’t worry about transportation. That bit was already a little sketchy, because she knows I, a university student, don’t have a car. Little did she know, the day before, I had dropped by Avis and rented a brand new red 2006 Toyota Yaris.

When 5:00 rolled around, I knocked on her door and escorted her outside to the car. It was parked on an angle at the end of the sidewalk, gleaming in a spring sunset. She had no idea what she was getting into – literally.

“Whoa . . . is this an Echo?” she asked.

“It’s a Toyota Yaris,” I said.

She was impressed. “Who did you borrow this from? Is it somebody on campus?”

“Nope,” I replied with a grin. “I rented it.”

“No way!” she exclaimed, grinning back. Her eyes were wide with possibilities. “How long do we have it for?”

“‘Til tomorrow morning,” I said, and handed her a CD. It was a mix I’d put together, a collection of car-commercial electronica I’d compiled; “Yaris Mix” was scribbled on the disc. She put it in, and I started the car.

“Check it out,” stuttered the Groove Armada, as “Groove Is On” kicked in.

She figured we were restaurant-bound, but I had something else in mind, and Part One involved a very specific long drive through the country. Earlier that day, I’d driven around the uncharted backroads of rural Fort Langley for hours, trying to map out the perfect route for the Yaris to travel in delivering us to our secret destination.

It was a winding road, twisting its way through rural routes and racing alongside the Fraser River. We paralleled a freight train and passed it, and sped past Christmas tree farms and sheep ranches.

“I had no idea it was so beautiful out here,” she said. At the climax of the trip, we crossed a bridge and immediately faced a hill dotted with caution signs, sharp corner signs, 15 km/h signs. The Yaris handled the bends with delicate ease, twisting up and up this switchbacking forty-five degree slope that looped through old-growth forest and moss-covered tree trunks. Suddenly, the forest opened as we crested the hill, and the blue sky shooting through the vanishing treetops exploded into full view.

I pulled over to the side of the road. There were no restaurants or B&Bs in sight, just a couple of residences, a barn, and a big old empty field. We got out of the Yaris.

By now, she was thoroughly confused, but thoroughly enjoying the adventure.

“What are we doing?” she asked.

I gave her a smile and opened the trunk; I’d stashed her running shoes and winter jacket in the back. I made her change out of her heels and into her running shoes, and we climbed through the barbed wire fence and marched to the centre of the field.

In the middle of the field we could see a white table with a white tablecloth waving at us in the wind. As we arrived, we saw red and orange and pink and white rose petals were scattered over the table. The table was set, and hosting a freshly-baked lasagne, a loaf of garlic bread, a spinach salad and a bottle of sparkling cider.

I’m sure she knew what was coming by now, but that didn’t spoil the excitement when I finally reached into my camera case, pulled out the ring box, and asked her to marry me.

She said yes. And the lasagne was delicious – thanks for asking.

Part Two was cute too. I told her our next reservations were for 6:15, so we hopped back in the Yaris and headed downtown.

When we got out of the car in the parking lot of a brand-new four-storey office building, she was a little confused, but still excited. When we exited the elevator and walked out into the fourth floor, she was excited but still clueless. When we rounded the corner and saw twenty-four of our friends with business suits and nametags stand up and applaud us, her face lit up in surprise. She couldn’t help but cry.

It was a ridiculous idea, but kind of clever. I decided to play along with the business-like implications of the word “proposal.” I suppose I could have tried the somewhat tacky move of presenting the actual Question as a “business proposal,” but I decided instead to hold an Official Post-Proposal Business Meeting as a kind of celebration between friends.

As Kendra excused herself to find composure in the washroom, I welcomed all our guests and filled them in on what had just happened, from the moment I picked her up in the Yaris to the present time. When Kendra returned, our friends applauded again, and we all took our seats and began the business meeting.

The faux-pro feel was an enjoyable pretense. The lights were turned down and I began the PowerPoint presentation. I gave a brief summary of our relationship, presented tonight’s answer to The Question, and told the story of the proposal. In one sequence (there’s a picture of this part), I explained all the vehicles I had considered renting for the evening: hot air balloon, helicopter and schoolbus. When each discarded idea came up, a damningly animated PowerPoint stamp stomped its verdict overtop. But when my final choice for the transport vehicle zipped onscreen – a brand new Toyota Yaris – the animated PowerPoint stamp of awesomeness appeared and granted approval.

There were more treats, too: I’d created a fifteen-page document called “The Official Post-Proposal Workbook and Information Package.” It included artist’s projections of what we’ll look like in our 40s and 80s, ridiculous practice exercises and superfluous appendices. I had it colour-printed and coil-bound at Kinko’s, and even made photocopies available for all the other attendants. There were drinks and appetizers at the back of the room, and Miles Davis and St. Germain making music in the background.

All in all, a memorable and meaningful night. After our friends petered out, we headed back to the parking lot and climbed into the Yaris. The car had 12 hours of life still on it, but we were both a little too tired for an all-night road-trip. We tripped through town to a coffee shop called the Wired Monk, and we were delighted to find the Yaris’ dashboard cupholders. A brilliant touch. We headed back to our place to have champagne with a few of our friends.

So that’s the amazing part: every time we re-tell our engagement story, it starts by naming the red 2006 Toyota Yaris. It’s built in – we can’t talk about our engagement without talking about your hip new car, with all the excitement of a newly affiancéed couple. It’s true; one night with the Yaris has led to a hundred or more conversations with people on campus.

We’d like to invite you to recognize us as the valid and viable viral marketing tool we are. We’re a grassroots connection that has the potential to reach far. We’re already on board with the car and the company, so that part’s easy. But beyond the built-in PR duo we already are, we’re inviting you to come one step further with us, and consider sponsoring us in a more official capacity.

Our wedding is on August 27, 2006, taking place in Kelowna, BC. Before then, there are a lot of print materials to prepare: save-the-date cards, invitations, wedding programs, and so forth. You already have our continued and willing endorsement and product promotion in our day-to day conversation. But, imagine the Toyota logo on all our printed materials. Imagine a Toyota banner in a prominent place at our reception. Imagine our smiling faces and wedding pictures telling our Yaris story in your advertising.

In exchange, we would love to see Toyota respond in one of the following three ways:
A) Offer a small donation for the advertising to help with our wedding, or
B) Offer a discount towards our purchase of the Yaris, or
C) Present the preferred and most perfect option: the wedding gift / sponsorship token of the new Yaris.

As a couple getting married just after graduating from university, it would be an incredible honour to somehow drive and own the Toyota Yaris. If you like the idea, then consider this a post-proposal proposal. If not, then consider it a testimonial.

Feel free to get in touch with me anytime, via e-mail or telephone. We look forward to discussing our idea with you further.

Yours truly,

Kevan Gilbert

Toyota’s Response

After about two months of waiting and hoping for a new car or a handsome sponsorship deal, I finally heard from Toyota. The call from Julie (not her real name) was a pleasant and diplomatic shutdown. The marketing team had “thoroughly enjoyed my letter,” and had passed it around the office for everybody to read. However, Toyota has already chosen specific charities to sponsor, and in order to make their contributions more effective, have decided to donate only to these pre-defined causes, blah blah blah. In a nutshell, thanks for the cute story, kid, but nope, you’re not getting a free Yaris.

• Feist and Sufjan Stevens Mash-up
• How to get free drinks at Starbucks
• Mixes in the Making: Mix 1: Doom Pop!

To make this trick work for you, you’ll need to be…
[ ] A Royal Bank of Canada account holder (or willing to become one)
[ ] A Starbucks drinker (a weekly one, not a daily one)
[ ] Interested in saving money
[ ] Keen on stickin’ it to the man

The card has no fees attached — it’s free. Plus you get $10 in Starbucks dollars when you first sign up. Additionally, if you’re into books, literacy and kids, each time you sign up, $5 gets donated to the Children’s Literacy Foundation.

Making it work for you:
It’s important to not let yourself get tricked. RBC and Starbucks, of course, are hoping their coffee-crazed customers will make a couple mistakes to benefit them:

• RBC hopes you’ll overspend your credit limit and pay your bill late so they can charge you interest.
• Starbucks hopes you’ll overspend your free Duetto dollars and splurge every now and then with your own cash.

Don’t do it. Here’s how to make sure this card doesn’t rip you off:
• Make sure you always pay your Visa bill on time. One good way to ensure this happens is by signing up for online banking. After each purchase, once you get home, go straight online and transfer the funds onto your Visa. Basically, treat it like a debit card.
• At Starbucks, don’t be seduced by the well-packaged music and the sort-of-fresh pastries. Be diligent and disciplined: only pay with the Duetto Dollars.
• Don’t expect a bottomless supply of lattes. Depending on your spending habits, you’ll get about 1 free drink (five dollars worth) a week.

Also, it’s helpful to know that the card reloads at the beginning of every month, once your Visa bill has been issued. That means that:
a) You shouldn’t expect to have Starbucks dollars waiting for you the second after you buy a plane ticket.
b) You can’t buy a bunch of expensive items and then return them, and still keep the Star-bucks.

• Feist and Sufjan Stevens Mash-up
• The Toyota Proposal
• Mixes in the Making: Mix 1: Doom Pop!
• Extensions and Plug-ins That Should Be Created But Haven’t Been Yet

Tom & Sarah: “I’m Still Wishing” (mash-up by Kevan Gilbert)

• Mixes in the Making: Mix 1: Doom Pop!
• Feist and Sufjan Stevens Mash-up
• The Toyota Proposal